Mexico saw a total of 25,339  murders last year, official data has shown, after 2017 was  already established as a record-breaking year based on  killings carried out until November.
The interior ministry yesterday said 2,219 people were  murdered in December 2017.
Authorities began collecting data in 1997, and the  previous record high of 22,409 occurred in 2011.
The homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants meanwhile  climbed to 20.51, against 16.80 in 2016, when 20,545 were  murdered.
Mexico is convulsing from a wave of violence linked to  drug trafficking that has left almost 200,000 dead since  December 2006, when former president Felipe Calderon's  government launched a controversial military anti-drug  operation that, according to its critics, has only led to more  murders and attacks.
The figures do not detail how many of the murders are  linked to organised crime but experts say it is probably a  large majority since the bulk were recorded in states where  drug cartels are deeply 

More than 25,000 murdered in Mexico in 2017, country's

PTI Automatic

Villarreal moved above Real Madrid  and into the top four in La Liga after a 2-1 win over Levante  yesterday that piled more pressure on the struggling  champions' coach Zinedine Zidane.
Valencia had two players sent off as they fell to a shock  2-1 defeat at lowly Las Palmas, while Atletico Madrid gave  leaders Barcelona the chance to pull 11 points clear after  only drawing 1-1 with Girona.
A 26th-minute penalty from Manu Trigueros and Real youth  product Denis Cheryshev's first league goal in nearly two  years saw Javier Calleja's side, who beat Real at the Santiago  Bernabeu for the first time ever last week, move up to 34  points, two ahead of Real.
Zidane's team are fifth, level on 32 points with Sevilla,  who crushed Espanyol 3-0 in a dominant display in Catalonia  that gave Vincenzo Montella his first league win since  arriving in Spain in late December.
The last time Real finished outside the top four was in  2000, when they placed fifth but won the Champions League -- a  ...

Real Madrid out of top four as Villarreal win

Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick as  Manchester City restored their 12-point lead at the top of the  Premier League with a 3-1 win at home to Newcastle United  yesterday.
City's 30-match unbeaten run in the league, which spanned  two seasons, came to a dramatic end with a 4-3 defeat by  Liverpool at Anfield last week.
But their return to winning ways here had manager Pep  Guardiola proclaiming his side needed 10 more victories to be  crowned champions.
Their advantage at the top of the table had been cut to  single figures, for a few hours at least, when second-placed  Manchester United beat Burnley 1-0 earlier on Saturday.
Normal service resumed in the day's late kick-off,  though, with Aguero glancing in Kevin De Bruyne's cross in the  34th minute to open the scoring at the Etihad.
The Argentina striker then converted a 63rd-minute  penalty awarded after Raheem Sterling tumbled in the box  following a tug by Javier Manquillo.
But struggling Newcastle scored against the run of play  .

Aguero treble gets City back on track as United eye Sanchez

Croatia's Marin Cilic won his  100th Grand Slam match as he mastered Spain's Pablo Carreno  Busta in four sets to reach the quarter-finals of the  Australian Open today.
The former US Open champion won the big points in putting  away the 10th seed 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/0), 7-6 (7/3) in 3hr  27min on Margaret Court Arena.
He will face world number one Rafael Nadal in the  quarters on Tuesday. Nadal leads 5-1 in their matches.
"I'm enjoying how I'm playing. Playing well. I did good  in the off-season and those things are paying off on the  court," Cilic said.
"It gives me good confidence, good excitement on the  court, when you are winning the matches, it just pushes you a  little bit more, knowing that you believe in the things that  are working.
"I'm not taking for granted making the second week of a  Grand Slam, I'm just trying to use the opportunities the best  I can."
Cilic reached the last eight in Melbourne for the second  time and also claimed his 11th Slam quarter-final to ...

Cilic brings up 100 as he makes Open quarters

Thisara Perera led an inspired Sri  Lankan bowling attack to help bowl out Zimbabwe for 198 in the  fourth one-day international of the tri-nation tournament here  today.
Perera claimed four wickets with his medium-pace as  Zimbabwe survived 44 overs after electing to bat first.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Brendan Taylor top-scored with 58.
Perera, who ran through the Zimbabwe top-order including  Taylor's wicket, was ably supported by fellow paceman Nuwan  Pradeep (3-28).
Left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan took wickets  before Pradeep wiped off the Zimbabwe tail including the  prized wicket of skipper Graeme Cremer for 34.
Sri Lanka are still searching for their first win in the  series after losing their matches against Zimbabwe and hosts  Bangladesh.

Perera helps Sri Lanka dismiss Zimbabwe for 198

Turkish troops today crossed over  the Syrian border into the Afrin region on the second day of  Ankara's operation against the Peoples' Protection Units (YPG)  Kurdish militia, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.
Yildirim told Turkish reporters in a briefing in Istanbul  that the troops crossed into the YPG-controlled region in  Syria at 0805 GMT from the Turkish village of Gulbaba, the  Dogan news agency reported.
The state-run Anadolu news agency said that the Turkish  army troops, whose number was not specified, were advancing  alongside forces from the pro-Ankara rebel Free Syrian Army  (FSA).
The Dogan news agency published images of tanks and  armoured vehicles pushing through grassy terrain.
Turkish forces yesterday began a major new operation  aimed at ousting the YPG from Afrin, pounding dozens of  targets from the sky in air raids and with artillery.
However this was the first confirmation that Turkish  ground troops were now involved in the operation inside ...

Turkish troops cross into Syria's Kurdish-held Afrin region:

Thousands of people  are expected to take to the streets of northern Greece's  biggest city Thessaloniki today as hardliners seek to block  any deal in the long-running name dispute between Athens and  Skopje that contains the term Macedonia.
Athens argues that the name Macedonia suggests that  Skopje has territorial claims to the northern Greek region of  the same name, of which Thessaloniki is the capital.
Hardline clerics, far-right leaders and Greek diaspora  groups have called for rallies, and media reports say 30,000  people are expected to demonstrate in Thessaloniki alone, with  more than 400 buses bringing people in from across the  country.
"The mobilisation of the people has exceeded all  expectations, " Irini Leonardou, a member of the rally's  organising committee, told AFP.
Cretans in traditional costumes who have travelled from  the southern island with their horses, as well as people from  northern Greece wearing costumes from the Macedonian wars era  a century ago, ...

Greek hardliners plan mass protest over Macedonia name row

North Korean delegates arrived in  South Korea today to prepare for cultural performances during  next month's Winter Olympics, in the first visit by Pyongyang  officials to the South for four years.
Television footage showed seven officials led by Hyon  Song-Wol, the leader of the North's popular Moranbong girl  band, crossing the heavily-fortified border by bus before  arriving at Seoul train station about an hour later.
The stony-faced officials, surrounded by hundreds of  Seoul police officers, then boarded a train to the eastern  city of Gangneung, where one of two planned concerts is due to  be held.
Hyon, a star singer and also the leader of the 140-member  Samjiyon Orchestra chosen to visit the South, left the station  in Gangneung without talking to throngs of journalists.
After months of high tensions over the North's missile  and nuclear tests, the neighbours agreed this month that North  Korean athletes, cheerleaders, artistic troupes and other  delegates would attend the .

N Korea delegates arrive in South for pre-Olympics inspection

Spain's Rafael Nadal fought off  tenacious Argentine Diego Schwartzman to win through to the  quarter-finals of the Australian Open today, ensuring he  remains world number one after the tournament ends.
Nadal was taken to four gruelling sets in almost four  hours before winning 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-3 on Rod Laver  Arena.
It will be his 10th Australian Open quarter-final  appearance, second only to Roger Federer, and he will face  Croatia's sixth seed Marin Cilic. Nadal leads 5-1 in their  previous meetings.
It was the Spaniard's fourth win over the Argentine but  his toughest after beating him in straight sets in the second  round at the 2015 US Open.
By winning Nadal ensured that he will remain No.1 when  the new rankings are released the day after the Open ends.
"Of course, I feel little bit tired, but yeah good. I was  able to keep fighting until the end," he said.
"It is the first big match I played in 2018. I started  later than usual so a match like this probably helps ...

Nadal fights off gutsy Schwartzman to reach quarters

Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister  Khaled al-Faleh today called for extending cooperation between  OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers beyond 2018 after a deal to  shore up crude prices.
"We should not limit our efforts to 2018. We need to be  talking about a longer framework for our cooperation," Faleh  said before a meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC countries in  Muscat.
This is the first time OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia  explicitly calls for extending a 2016 deal between oil  producers to cut back production to combat a global oil glut.
OPEC and non-OPEC countries signed a landmark agreement  in November 2016 to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day  to fight huge oversupply and lift sagging crude prices.
That deal was initially for six months, but the 14-member  cartel and 10 independent producers have since extended it  until the end of this year.
"I am talking about extending the framework that we  started -- which is the declaration of cooperation -- beyond  2018," Faleh told ...

Saudi Arabia calls for extending non-OPEC cooperation

Gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in  Kabul and killed at least six people including a foreigner,  sparking a 12-hour battle that left terrified guests  scrambling to escape and parts of the building ablaze.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the  six-storey Intercontinental Hotel on a hilltop overlooking the  Afghan capital. People trapped at the top of the building tied  bedsheets together and climbed over balconies to escape the  overnight assault.
One lost his grip and fell in dramatic television footage  by Afghanistan's Tolo News station, which also showed black  smoke and flames billowing from the top of the hotel.
Special forces were lowered by helicopters during the  night onto the roof of the landmark 1960s building, with  Afghan security forces killing four attackers in the hours-  long assault, the interior ministry said.
"Five Afghans and one foreigner have been killed,"  interior ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP  today, adding around 150 ...

At least 6 dead in 12-hour Taliban siege at luxury Kabul hotel

Turkish forces and their  Syrian allies today pressed a cross border offensive against a  Kurdish militia for a second day, as rocket fire hit a border  town in apparent retaliation.
Turkey had yesterday launched operation "Olive Branch"  seeking to oust from the Afrin region of northern Syria the  Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) which Ankara considers a  terror group.
But the campaign risks further increasing tensions with  Turkey's NATO ally the United States -- which has supported  the YPG in the fight against Islamic State  jihadists -- and  also needs at least the tacit support of Russia to succeed.
Turkish artillery pounded YPG targets around Afrin today  after the first strikes the previous day saw 72 Turkish  aircraft hit a total of 108 targets inside Syria, according to  the army.
Meanwhile pro-Turkey Syrian rebels who Ankara calls the  Free Syrian Army (FSA) were engaged in a "comprehensive"  ground operation on Afrin against the YPG, the state-run  Andadolu news agency ...

Turkey presses Syria offensive as rockets hit town

Cyprus gears up for a presidential  election next week with incumbent Nicos Anastasiades favourite  to win as he pledges a fresh push to reunify the divided  island after talks collapsed last year.
After a low-key campaign, opinion polls put the  conservative in the lead as he claims credit for the island's  economic recovery since its debilitating financial crisis of  2013.
Anastasiades, 71, however, looks unlikely to win the  January 28 first round outright, and is expected to face a  run-off on February 4 against either communist-backed Stavros  Malas or Nikolas Papadopoulos, a former president's son who  takes a tougher line on peace efforts.
Apathy appears high and opponents have failed to land a  major blow on the former lawyer as he has pitched his bid for  a second five-year term.
Barring a backroom deal between his opponents -- which  analysts say is a possibility -- he looks set to win,  according to opinion polls.
"I think Anastasiades will win," bank worker Costas  ...

President vowing new peace push leads in Cyprus reelection bid

Scoreboard in the third one-day  international between Australia and England in Sydney today:
England
J Roy c Finch b Cummins 19
J Bairstow b Zampa 39
A Hales c Zampa b Stoinis 1
J Root b Hazlewood 27
E Morgan c Paine b Hazlewood 41
J Buttler not out 100
M Ali b Marsh 6
C Woakes not out 53
Extras (lb2, w13, nb1) 16
Total (for six wickets, 50 overs) 302
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-45, 3-90, 4-107, 5-172, 6-189
Bowling: Starc 10-0-63-0, Hazlewood 10-0-58-2, Cummins  10-1-67-1, Stoinis 8-0-43-1, Zampa 9-0-55-1, Marsh 3-0-14-1.

Sydney, Jan 21 (AFP) Scoreboard in the third one-day

A scintillating century from Jos  Buttler led a late England charge against a full-strength  Australian pace attack in the third one-day international in  SydneyJos Buttler today.
Already ahead 2-0 in the five-match series, the tourists  were sent in by Australian captain Steve Smith and initially  found life tougher than in their two previous wins on a  slightly tricky wicket.
Several English batsmen got promising starts, but it was  wicketkeeper-batsman Buttler who helped them post an imposing  302 for six from their 50 overs.
Buttler notched his five one-day international century  from the last ball of the innings, as England helped  themselves to 38 off the last two overs.
He faced 83 balls, hitting six fours and four sixes, in a  dashing innings that gathered momentum in the last 10 overs.
Just as England appeared to be struggling against a  full-strength Australian attack, Buttler found a willing ally  in Chris Woakes late in the innings, the seamer making 53 from  36 balls in a 

Buttler does it for England in third ODI against Australia

A measles outbreak is feared to  have killed about 100 malnourished people in Indonesia's  Papua, an official said Sunday, highlighting a health crisis  in the country's easternmost province.
A total of 69 toddlers have died in the remote Asmat  region, said Papua military spokesman Muhammad Aidi, while  reports on the ground suggest 27 people have died in an  equally remote and mountainous district named Oksibil.
"We have received reports from villagers that the  outbreak is also happening in Oksibil district and our staff  have confirmed that, but we still need to check how many  people have died," Aidi told AFP.
"Measles is not dangerous, it's a mild disease. But  because those children are malnourished, they can't cope in  that condition."
The government and military have sent medical teams and  are supplying villagers with medicine, vaccines, medical  equipment and nutritious food in Asmat. But the difficult  terrain means the team will not arrive in Oksibil until Monday  at the .

100 in Indonesia's Papua feared dead from malnutrition,measles

Sri Lankan police who were charged  by elephants as they staked out a cannabis farm dropped an  automatic rifle as they ran for their lives, sparking a hunt  today for the missing weapon.
Policemen who had been camping out near the plantation in  a bid to catch crooks turned tail and scarpered after the huge  creatures started hurtling after them.
"The constables dropped their weapons and fled to save  their lives when the elephants charged," a statement said.
Officers were now looking for the T56 automatic assault  rifle in the bush at Lunugamvehera, 225 kilometres (140 miles)  south of the capital Colombo.
Sri Lanka has strict laws protecting elephants, which are  considered sacred. However, about 200 jumbos are killed  annually by farmers who say wild elephants stray onto their  land and destroy their crops.
About 50 people are killed in wild elephant attacks  annually.
Sri Lanka's elephant population has dwindled to just over  7,000, according to the latest census, down from an ...

Sri Lanka police lose gun as elephants charge

US lawmakers will launch a  last-ditch bid today to end a budget impasse before hundreds  of thousands of federal workers are forced to start the work  week at home with no pay.
The impact of the shutdown that began at midnight Friday  has been largely limited so far, closing sites like New York's  Statue of Liberty, but the effect will be acute if the  stalemate runs into Monday.
Republicans and Democrats have traded bitter  recriminations over who is to blame for the failure to pass a  stop-gap funding measure by a January 20 deadline, a year to  the day since Donald Trump took office as US president.
Highlighting the deep political polarization, crowds  estimated to number in the hundreds of thousands took to the  streets of major US cities Saturday to march against the  president and his policies.
Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell on Saturday set a  key vote for a funding measure for 1:00 am (0600 GMT) Monday,  with both houses of Congress set to reconvene Sunday.
"I assure ...

US lawmakers in bid to end shutdown stalemate

Gunmen have killed at least five  people and wounded eight others in an ongoing attack on  Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, officials said today, as  panicked guests were seen climbing over balconies to escape.
More than eleven hours after the assault began Afghan  security forces were still clearing the hotel, with at least  one of the four gunmen on the loose, a security source said.
"Five Afghans are dead," interior ministry spokesman  Najib Danish told reporters near the hotel, adding 100  hostages, including 16 foreigners, had been released.
At least two of the attackers have been killed, Danish  said.
Dramatic images broadcast on Afghanistan's Tolo News  showed thick black smoke and flames billowing from the top of  the six-floor hotel.
Several people could be seen climbing over a top-floor  balcony using bedsheets to escape, with one losing his grip  and plunging to the ground.
Four gunmen burst into the hotel on Saturday night,  opening fire on guests and staff and taking ...

At least five dead in Kabul hotel attack: officials

Gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in  Kabul killing at least six people, including a foreigner,  sparking a twelve hour fight with security forces that left  terrified guests scrambling to escape and parts of the  building ablaze.
Afghan security forces killed four attackers during the  night-time siege, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish  told Tolo News, during which people trapped inside the  landmark hotel were seen climbing over balconies to escape.
"The attack is over," he said.
"Five Afghans and one foreigner have been killed,"  interior ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP,  adding around 150 people were rescued, including more than 40  foreigners.
"The body of the foreigner, a woman, was recovered from  the sixth floor as the last attacker was being killed," he  added.
But an official with Afghanistan's spy agency told AFP  the attack was "not over yet" with attackers "still shooting  on security forces".
Dramatic images broadcast on Afghanistan's Tolo News  ...

At least six dead as Kabul hotel attack ends: officials

Roger Federer says he's a big  believer in kids playing sport, but he's not keen on his own  children following in his footsteps.
The Swiss great and wife Mirka had identical twins Myla  Rose and Charlene Riva in 2009 and another set came along five  years later, Leo and Lenny.
They are occasionally seen watching their dad ply his  trade, but after years travelling the world on the tennis  tour, the 36-year-old would prefer not to have to do it all  over again.
"I mean, I hope they don't just because we don't need  another 25 years on tour," he said at the Australian Open when  asked if he would encourage them to be professional players.
But he added: "No, I'm just a supportive parent. I can't  tell which direction they're going to go.
"If there's going to be anything in sports or somewhere  in finance or business, I have no idea where they're going to  go. All I know is I'll be incredibly supportive of them."
He did reveal they already play tennis, not because he  has been ...

AFP

AFP

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